


Pain Filled Prejudice and Meaningless Pride

by Stormsmith



Category: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, Modern Era, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 02:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormsmith/pseuds/Stormsmith
Summary: Liz Bennet was a regular girl, a lawyer at a respectable mid-sized firm in the heart of Midwest America. Then she experiences heart break beyond words and it changes her whole life. Now she’s living in France and working as the Executive Director and General Counsel of one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world, the EB Smith Foundation, and doing real good in the world. William Darcy is the CEO of one of the largest construction companies in Europe with more money that he knows what to do with. He recently decided that he wants to follow in the footsteps of the elusive EB Smith and start his own charitable foundation. Unfortunately, all of Darcy’s attempts to meet the philanthropist in person have failed and he’s been told from many different sources that only the only way to get an in-person meeting is to impress Liz Bennet. A visit to the EB Smith Foundation’s resort investment property, Meryton Village, in the French Riviera is Darcy’s last shot to meet his new idol.





	1. Grave Side

**_July 21, 2015_ **

One lone woman sits under a green velvet canopy staring at a big hole in the ground. The day was beautiful, bright and sunny with a cooling breeze. A lark was singing sweetly in the huge sycamore tree just behind the looming hole. Watching nothing in particular, she just sits on an oddly formal folding chair draped with a white linen chair cover, like the kind people have at their weddings. It seems oddly out of place next to a fresh grave.

Everyone else had gone. The woman, Elizabeth, was aware that she was expected to go to her Aunt's home for a lunch. Another strange analogy to a wedding; after the church service, let us all gather and eat. Is it a celebration of some sort? Maybe it was for some people. Maybe some funerals and the meal shared with family after the service were a glorious celebration of a life well lived. But this was not one of those kinds of funerals. Today the loss of life was not being celebrated. That’s not to say that the life had not been lived well, on the contrary it had been a wonderful life. Just much, much too short.

Elizabeth looked at the small table set up next to the hole. It held 2 pictures, a gigantic floral arrangement, and a basket with all kinds of cards and condolences. So many empty words about loss and pain and how those she loved would want Elizabeth to keep living and be happy. Well, screw happy. She did not particularly want to be happy right now, maybe ever again. Happy was overrated. _Life is pain Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something._

She snorts at such a maudlin thought. And then snorts again remembering that it was a quote from her favorite sappy romance movie, the one with Princess Buttercup and the Dread Pirate Roberts. That movie had been all about how love conquered everything, even death.

Screw that too.

As Elizabeth let her thoughts wonder, she spies the smaller box next to the cards. It holds money. Her mother and sisters had suggested that they ask for donations to a charity that Elizabeth was involved with in lieu of flowers. Of course everyone still sent flowers, but a lot of people also gave money to the charity which was searching for a cure to certain genetic diseases that affect children. It was a nice thought, a wonderful gesture, and Elizabeth was truly grateful that her friends and family gave this one last gift in his name.

Money.

Money was evil. The chasing of money without reason other than to have more was evil. Men with money should be fixing this world not destroying it. Elizabeth hates money. The wanton chasing of money was why she was now sitting on a stupid white chair next to a stupid hole in the ground.

Elizabeth eventually gets up and makes her way back to her car on the narrow road that winds through the peaceful plot of land now holding the last vestiges of her life. Getting in, she starts the engine and then pauses to decide what she should do. The lunch at her Aunt’s house was probably over by now as she had sat alone grave side for more than 2 hours. Going home was out of the question and she didn't really want to go back to her parents' house or even her sister's apartment. She didn't want to go where she would be watched and pitied or even loved. She wasn't super big on love right now.

Something in the passenger seat of her car catches her eye. Nothing had been there when she drove from the funeral home to the cemetery, except her sister. Now in the seat sat her favorite weekend getaway bag, the one with the silly little bird pattern on a soft leather body, which was deceptively big on the inside, but still small enough to fit in the overhead compartment of even the smallest puddle jumper airplane, and a plain white envelope. Not a card envelope, she had opened enough of those in the past 15 days to last a lifetime. This envelope was like the ones that bills come in. There was nothing written on the front so Elizabeth opened it.

Inside is a plane ticket to Paris, the address of a hotel near Montmartre, her passport, and €10,000 cash.

Her oldest sister, Jane, had written a note saying she, and their next oldest sister Mary, had decided to send Elizabeth out of town for a while. She had a one month reservation at the hotel and the return ticket was an open date. Another suitcase packed with enough clothes and toiletries to last forever was in the trunk. Jane had already cleared the extended leave with her boss at the law firm and everything was arranged and paid for. It seems that her large family and numerous friends from work had all pooled enough cash so that she could have a true escape for at least a little while.

Just Go.

There was nothing keeping her here. Certainly she had no responsibilities to anyone else anymore. Her parents and sisters would not blink for one second at her abrupt leaving. She had enough money saved, plus the life insurance money, to live for probably a year without another paycheck. Make that another 2 years if she sold her house and (now) extraneous little sports car that he had loved. Plus, the partner she worked for was already working on the lawsuit against the trucking company which was responsible for this mess. He would take care of everything without her even needing to ask.

Zachary Zabara (known as Zab around the firm) was not a litigator, but he was the best lawyer she had ever known. A lot of associates didn't like working for him because he was exacting and expected perfection. On the other hand, he was extremely well liked by his clients, always going the extra mile and making sure that they had everything they needed, even those things they had not originally known to ask for. So, unlike some of the other partners who were always chasing after new clients to replace the ones who moved on or frantically trying to fix mistakes before they became a problem, Zab had the time to sit with the associates and teach them the trade of being a superbly skilled lawyer. If an associate was patient, generally available, thick skinned enough to not be crushed by a page completely bleeding with red pen, and smart enough to not make the same mistake twice, Zab was the best partner at the firm to work for. Less than 36 hours after the accident Elizabeth had asked him to take her case and she knew it would be done right.

There was truly nothing keeping her at home.

Elizabeth looks at the ticket more closely; it was a non-stop flight leaving in 4 hours. The international airport was about a one hour drive from the cemetery in her little hometown where she had laid her life to rest. If she left now, she would have plenty of time to park in economy, check in, and go through exit customs before the doors closed on the worst day of her life. Without another thought, Elizabeth drove to the airport.


	2. A Villa by the Sea

**_July 7, 2018_ **

William Darcy steps out of the rented 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish that his best friend Charles Bingley had gotten in Lyon and insisted on driving to the seaside town of Villefranche. It had been a nearly 6 hour drive after 2 comfort stops, but Charles had been right about the view along the way and the plushness of the car. Even Darcy’s 6 foot 3 inch frame had fit with ease in the spacious interior. Driving from the larger airport instead of landing the Darcy private jet at the closest private airport to the resort had been the first step in Charles’s plan to make Darcy slow down and take more joy in his life. So far, it wasn’t so bad.

The Meryton Village resort was an exclusive set of 10 massive houses on Avenue Jean Cocteau in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France owned by the EB Smith Foundation. The houses were rented out in one month blocks at pretty high rates, but all of the profits made was then put to good use by the foundation. Staying for a month in the south of France was going to be expensive no matter where you stayed, and the rich and famous were currently all about Consumer Activism, spending money with purpose. It started with those dreadfully uncomfortable shoes that cost a fortune, but each pair bought by a trendy millennial in the US or EU funded the production of another pair which was sent to someone who needed a pair of shoes in Africa. Bingley’s sister, Caroline, had purchased about 10 pairs in all different colors and would wear them to different events in London, talking non-stop about how great it felt to actually be able to do something about poverty, as though her buying shoes and wearing them once was the answer to all of the world’s problems.

Unlike the shoes, this resort was simply an income generating property for the EB Smith Foundation and a way to diversify its investments. The homes had existed before the foundation bought the property and the management company in charge of the resort did not change after the purchase. Regardless of the actual direct global impact Darcy and Bingley were having by staying in an 8 bedroom villa with a sea view out the west facing windows, it was a nice thought that the profit off of their stay would be benefiting someone instead of lining the pockets of some massive hotel chain.

Though relatively new, the EB Smith Foundation had already made a huge name for itself in the private family foundation philanthropic circles. And everyone knew the story of EB Smith’s rise to the top of the financial world, at least the story Forbes told in their exclusive interview last year. An interview which included exactly zero pictures of the elusive philanthropist.

In 2015, EB Smith uncovered a huge scandal involving the 3 largest trucking companies in the US. It was proven in court that the largest names in the trucking industry were regularly flouting federal regulations regarding rest time for drivers and were pushing many drivers to go for stretches of more than 20 hours in order to make fresh food and other perishable deliveries on an unbelievably tight schedule. Combined with the practice of forcing every driver into an independent contractor relationship, instead of acknowledging that the drivers were really employees and their safety was the responsibility of the trucking conglomerate, and fining those same drivers large sums of money for failing to make on-time deliveries, EB’s class action legal team showed that more and more truck drivers were forced to make unsafe driving decisions or face personal financial ruin. More than 50 families lost loved ones to sleepy, unsafe drivers in less than 2 years. The number of non-fatal accidents reached well over 200 in the same time period. In the end, 5 corporate executives were sent to jail for criminal recklessness and the three companies were carved up and recombined under a new corporate entity in order to pay all of the legal fees and punitive damages owed to the plaintiff’s class. Today, EB Smith is the sole owner of all of the equity of the newly combined trucking conglomerate. As one of the richest business owners in the world, it’s no wonder EB is fanatical about guarding against unwanted publicity. Also, EB can't get rid of the money fast enough.

The EB Smith Foundation was formed in the wake of the lawsuits being concluded for the purpose of continuing to pay out on the judgement owed to the Plaintiffs class and EB personally. After satisfying the legal fees and judgements, almost all of the money made, which is not reinvested back into the company or used for the benefit of the employees, is placed into the foundation. In turn, the foundation takes all of that money and gives grants to charitable projects around the world focused on (1) housing and food insecurity, (2) education for underprivileged and under-served populations, and (3) gender equality issues. In its first 2 years, the EB Smith Foundation has given away more than $250 million dollars and this year it is poised to give away another full $200 million. Profits from the trucking business have never been better, even while the company is paying higher salaries, using more time to make deliveries safely, and investing in health care benefits for its employees at every level. EB Smith said in the Forbes interview that the age old adage of “money begets money” is true in business finances as well. If you invest in your business and your people who make the business run, the profits will come out in the end.

William Darcy had never been one to follow celebrity, but after hearing about the EB Smith Foundation and the unbound success the US trucking company was experiencing, Darcy had become obsessed with meeting EB Smith.

At only 35, Darcy is one of the richest men in the world and utterly bored. He inherited his father’s real estate businesses, Darcy Properties and Darcy Construction, at the age of 23, and while being the CEO of an international conglomerate was exciting work most of the time, Darcy felt personally unfilled. His father and mother had died 12 years ago in a plane crash over the Alps leaving him guardian to his much younger sister, CEO of the companies, and over £150 million in the bank. Darcy never needed to work a day in his life, but he did to keep the companies going. There were roughly 12,000 people who worked for the Darcy Group of Companies, many of them unskilled laborers doing construction, and he felt responsible for their lives and livelihood. Darcy also felt he needed to keep the legacy of George and Anne Darcy alive in the companies they had built for both himself and his young sister. But the life of a rich and highly sought after business mogul was beginning to feel totally meaningless. In more than 12 years, Darcy had never actually stopped to think about what he wanted out of his life.

Today, the Darcy siblings had nearly £250 million pounds in the bank and William Darcy felt sure that he wanted to do something good with all of that money. Something like EB Smith had done. His sister and he had agreed to take the profit of £100 million from the last 12 years that they hadn't touched and didn't need, and put it into a new foundation. They would build affordable, clean, and conveniently located housing for under-served and underprivileged people in London. Now Darcy just needed some guidance on how to go about doing it. EB Smith had been his inspiration and Darcy wanted to talk to the philanthropist and get guidance on how to go about the project.

Unfortunately all attempts so far to reach the extremely private philanthropist had not gone to plan. Darcy had contacted the foundation and requested a meeting with EB Smith but had been told that he would be required to meet with the foundation’s Executive Director and General Counsel, a Liz Bennet, before being granted any interview with EB Smith. No amount of pleading his case had worked. He tried to name drop several of his friends and relations who had worked with the foundation in the past year on a project for a school in London, but that was also no use. Last week he had even tried to actually use one of those contacts, his cousin Anne, as a reference and introduction to EB Smith. But his cousin had been no help at all. She told him that he should go through the normal channels and meet with Liz Bennet. Anne promised it would be worth it in the end and she flatly refused to provide Darcy with an introduction to EB Smith directly. Before hanging up, Anne cautioned him to be nice to Liz Bennet as she was very much trusted by EB Smith and Darcy would never be granted access to the philanthropist without first making a good impression on Liz.

Despite his cousin’s warning, Darcy was unmoved. This trip was his last, best hope of avoiding the corporate decision policy hoops and toadying of employees. Charles had been talking about the villa that his sister, Caroline, had rented in the France Riviera for the end of the summer and let it slip that this was the resort owned by the EB Smith Foundation. Charles also said that Caroline was certain that they would all actually meet EB Smith in person as she had it on good authority that the villa immediately next door to the one she had requested was the private vacation home of EB Smith and available exclusively by personal invitation. Caroline also had it on good authority that, in July, EB Smith entertained friends and family at the private villa. So Darcy had accepted the invitation to spend a month in France with his friends. He was sure that if he could get just a few minutes of EB’s time, he could plead his case for personal mentoring. It wasn’t as if Darcy actually wanted money, he had plenty of that himself. No, Darcy just wanted to talk to an equal. Someone who understood what it was like to be isolated from the world due to the size of one’s bank account.

After arriving and settling into their rooms, Charles decides to head over to the management company offices to pick up some papers and a list of activities available during their stay. Darcy stays behind to take a walk around the nature trail by the shoreline with the hopes of getting a lucky glimpse of the party staying at the house next door. From the edge of the rocky beach, Darcy could see a large party hanging out at the pool. It looked like a group of young women were enjoying the sun but none of them could be more than 30 years old. It was possible that EB Smith was out or inside the house instead of cavorting with a bunch of bikini clad 20-somethings, but Darcy had the feeling that this was not the group whom he believed would be personal guests of EB Smith. It certainly wasn’t the type of people Darcy would invite to his personal retreat.

One of the young women caught Darcy’s eye. She was the most modestly dressed in a tasteful one-piece red swim suit and a flowery silk kimono cover up sitting on a lounge chair and reading a book. She looked up when one of the other swimmers ran and jumped into the water. The tinkling sound of her laughter drifted across the rocks and hit Darcy square in the chest. Darcy couldn’t remember the last time he laughed that freely. To have the kind of life that allowed for unrestrained laughter was exactly what he was chasing. Darcy was sure that if he could just get EB Smith’s attention, his own foundation would be a success and he would finally have something to bring laughter into his own life.

Darcy takes another look at the red suit beauty then turns back towards his rented villa even more determined to find a way to meet EB.


	3. New Neighbors

**_July 7, 2018_ **

Liz Bennet was soaking in the last rays of the summer sun on one of the hottest days of the year. She was staying in the EB Smith Foundation private villa at the Meryton Village resort with her whole family. Liz’s parents and four sisters had been able to get away from all of their various responsibilities for the entire month of July and her older sister Jane was going to stay with Liz at the villa through August. After that, both Liz and Jane would head to various project sites on official business for the foundation.

Liz had become the Executive Director and General Counsel for the EB Smith foundation full time in February. Jane had followed in May, leaving a construction building management job with a construction company in Illinois to do project management for the foundation. Liz had always been the Executive Director and General Counsel for the foundation, since the very start, but until this year she had maintained her other job. Before 2015, Liz had worked for a large law firm in Indianapolis, Indiana specializing in business and exempt organization law. She had been fortunate to work with a lot of startups and charities while working for the firm. In the fall of 2015, Liz had decided to take a huge leap and accepted a position with the legal department of Amnesty International. While working for Amnesty, Liz had also been setting up the EB Smith Foundation, reviewing grant applications, meeting with the boards of the charities asking for money to fund potential project, and helping with the legalities of funneling money from the trucking companies owned by EB Smith directly to the foundation. This year the board of directors for the foundation decided that they needed her full time attention and Liz agreed to give it to them.

A lot had changed in Liz’s life in the last three years. A lot of heartache and pain had been endured. Now, for the first time in a long time, Liz felt like she could smile without feeling guilty. The Meryton Village resort had been one of Liz’s pet projects. Looking after the financial health of the foundation was a difficult task, and most financial advisors would absolutely recommend using income generating properties as buffers for slow times in the financial markets. It helped the decision along when Liz decided to purchase an existing income property with a pretty good reputation instead of trying to build something new. The resort was close to Nice, France and sported fabulous accommodations. She also quite liked the thought that all of the super-rich people who stayed at the resort were being over-charged for their stay and they were happy about it! You could get nearly as nice of a room at the Four Seasons not a mile up the shoreline, which also came with two restaurants and a private sand beach, for about half the cost per person. Even a party of 10 could get cheaper accommodations at the Four Seasons for a whole month over renting one of the Meryton Village villas, but Consumer Activism was hot right now. The Meryton Village resort was booked solid this year through November and already full for the following April, May, and July. Only 2 villas were available for next June and 3 for the following August. It honestly blew Liz’s mind what people with “more money than sense” were willing to pay for a vacation, but she was sure happy to capitalize on it in the name of keeping the foundation financially stable.

The foundation kept the last villa, the smallest with only 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a small shallow pool, for the exclusive use by the foundation. Employees, charitable partners, and board members were allowed to bring their families and friends to the private villa for vacations, as long as they paid for their own food and a moderate fee to the maintenance company for the upkeep. It was one of the only perks of working for a charity. When the private villa was empty, which was most of the winter months, Liz actually lived in Villafranche and ran the Foundation out of its headquarters, the _Santo Sospir_ villa and art gallery. It may seem to be a strange HQ for an international charitable foundation with more than $200M in annual grants, but it had come with the Meryton Village property and waste not, want not. Liz figured that one day, maybe even one day soon, the foundation would grow out of the attic office and require more space and more staff, but for now, it was fine. The main aim of the foundation was to give out money to other qualified charities which did the real work. The EB Smith Foundation did not have a large staff (it was Liz, Jane, and a part time receptionist) and they relied on the help from a specialty law firm and financial advisor firm, both which were stateside, for most of their big decisions. In the modern era of cell phones and internet, you can direct the payment of money, even large sums of money, from anywhere in the world.

Liz looks up from her book just as her youngest sister, Lydia, starts to run towards the pool. One excellent flying leap later and she lands in the water with a huge _splash_. Liz is sprayed all up and down her body, but manages to save her book from a soaking. She laughs with her other sisters at Lydia’s antics, a real happy laugh.

A little while later, Liz heads over to the management office while the rest of the Bennets rest and cook dinner. Charlotte Lucas, the daughter of the owner of the Lucas Lodge Property Management Co., which ran Meryton Village, was sitting at the front office desk poring over a bridal magazine.

“Liz, which of these two hair-dos do you like the best? Whimsical curly over the shoulder or an elegant twisted up-do?”

Liz laughed at her friend. “I still don’t understand why you are growing out your hair for your wedding. You have always had such a fun pixie cut. Do you really what to look like a different person for the wedding?”

“I think every little girl wants to look like a princess on her wedding day and princesses don’t have pixie cut hair.” Charlotte blew some fringe out of her eyes and ran her fingers though the wavy mess currently just above her jaw line. “It doesn’t really matter anyway; my hair won’t be long enough for either of these styles before October. Maybe I can get extensions.”

Shaking her head Liz moved on to the business of the day. “Have all of the July guests finally checked in? The Bingley party is already missing nearly a whole week of their planned stay and I don’t want them to expect we can accommodate them past the 31st of July. Or that they will be getting any discount on their month’s rental. I thought I heard a car pull into the garage of their villa and was hoping to hear good news.”

“Yeah, they are here. Charles Bingley came over to pick-up the check-in information and Dad told him about the party tomorrow for the gallery. He seems super nice, a bit bubbly, and not at all like his sister, Caroline, I believe. When she called to tell us that they would not be able to get away from the ‘ _extremely important social engagements of the London Season_ ’ I thought sappy syrup would start to drip out of the phone.” Charlotte rolled her eyes at the memory of the condescending woman. “Honestly, is the _Season_ even still a thing, I thought that was getting old by the time Jane Austin wrote about it in the 1800s. Anyway, I told her then that we had the villa rented to another party starting on August 1, so they would still have to vacate by 11am on the 31st. She wasn’t too happy, but she agreed that she would be livid if someone overstayed and kept her from the start of her vacation. She did try to weasel out the name of the party after them to ‘ _determine if they were social acquaintances_ ’ with whom some ‘ _arrangements_ ’ could be made. It was damned hard to keep my tone polite when I said I didn’t divulge our guests’ information to anyone, even other guests.”

“Thank you for handling her. You know my temper is not always the best when dealing with demanding rich snobs.” Liz smiled at her friend with that certain mischievous twinkle in her eyes which said she was fully aware that the characterization of her short temper was a huge understatement.

“Right.” Charlotte snorted. “Did dad tell you the worst part? She was trying really hard to get information about EB Smith. Apparently someone in her ‘ _social circle_ ’ who is a ‘ _close intimate_ ’ of EB said that the private villa here always hosts a party of EB’s friends and family in July. Caroline wanted to know if the elusive EB would be staying with us as host.”

Liz’s eyebrows rose into her hairline at this information. “Who in the world would have that kind of information which would divulge it? Obviously we have trusted someone much too far! What did you say to her?!”

“Relax Liz, I’m sure it was idle gossip and no one who knows the foundation actually said the words ‘ _EB Smith will be in Villefranche, France at the Meryton Village resort in July 2018_ ’. It isn’t a secret that the last 3 Julys have seen a party of friends and family of the foundation in the private villa. Anyone who has stayed with us in July knows that and the annual fundraiser for the gallery in July is always full of foundation guests. And I told her the same thing I said earlier in that conversation, ‘ _I don’t divulge private information about any of our guests even if they are guests of the foundation._ ’”

“I really hope I don’t have to hide from the Bingleys all month. If they know anything about the inner workings of the foundation, I’m sure I’ll become the next target of their attempts to make a social introduction to EB.” Resigned, Liz rose to leave. “Thanks for the heads up. I can’t _wait_ to meet the new neighbors.”


	4. Insult and Injury

**_July 8, 2018_ **

Darcy, Charles, and Charles's two sisters, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst, walk up to Club Dauphin about forty-five minutes after the stated start time for the Meryton Village " _Soirée for Santo Sospir_ " event. The resort manager, a Sir William Lucas, had invited the whole Bingley party to the Soirée when Charles had stopped by the management office on the day before. It was being held by the resort as a fundraiser for _Santo Sospir_ , an art gallery on Avenue Jean Cocteau positioned in the midst of the resort villas.

The gallery had been a private home in Villefranche owned by a friend of the poet Jean Cocteau in the mid-20th century. He frequented the home during breaks in the filming of his film _Testament of Orpheus_ (1960) and decorated the plaster walls with many art deco frescoes. After painting nearly every room of the house, Jean Cocteau decorated with frescoes the chapel of St Pierre in Villefranche and the wedding room in the Town Hall of Menton, France. Later, he designed a Greek theatre for the Mediterranean University Centre in Cap d’Ail and a chapel in Fréjus. _Santa Sospir_ had come with the Meryton Village Resort properties and was therefore currently owned by the EB Smith Foundation, which supported the upkeep through gallery shows, private events, and the annual Soirée.

The location for the Soirée was wonderful; right on the sea at the Four Season's hotel about a mile from their resort and sporting a fabulous sparkling pool and terrace bar. Darcy had actually been excited to attend at first since the Club Dauphin had been on his very short list of dining locations he wished to patronize. Caroline and Louisa, who had arrived about 4 hours after Darcy and Charles on a chartered plane to Nice, were amenable to the entertainment and expressed their hope that, since it was a Meryton Village event, there would be people of substance worth meeting in attendance.

Much to Darcy, Caroline, and Louisa's dismay, as soon as they entered the restaurant all hopes of a sophisticated high society event flew out the window. The Soirée was apparently open to anyone who wanted to attend and had attracted quite the crowd. The entry fee was only €20 per person and the main fundraising mechanism was a cut of the evening's food and drink take, which was significant encouragement for those in attendance to imbibe more than anyone's usual amount. It also looked like most of the attendees had taken the start time in earnest, so the Bingley party was about three rounds behind.

The noise was deafening.

Even more to Darcy's disgust, a large section of the outdoor terrace, which would normally have been his retreat when inside spaces became too loud, had been turned into a dance floor. A large number of couples, and the always present group of young women dancing en-mass without male partners, had already started dancing to some high energy pop-monstrosity. Just as Darcy was about to turn back inside and ask the wait staff if there was perhaps a private dining parlor that they might be able to use, he heard that laughter. The same laughter which had come from the red suit beauty staying in the EB Smith Foundation private villa next door to their own. Darcy looked back and saw her, in a stunning red satin, bias cut, evening dress that fell just below her knees. It had a scoop-neck and off the shoulder ¾ sleeves which tastefully showed off her golden skin and elegant long neck. After another moment, Darcy noticed that she was dancing, quite gracefully, with a tall man who was leading her around the mass of other dancers in an exaggerated version of a traditional Spanish tango.

Darcy felt a moment of inexplicable jealously when the man spun the unknown beauty into his arms then dipped her so far back that she could not have been able to support herself any longer. She laughed again, that tinkling light laughter, then managed to reach behind her into a floral arrangement and extricate a single red rose. When she came back upright, the rose was placed between her teeth and the couple went on another circuit around the dance floor in a ridiculous tango farcical pose, cheek-to-cheek with hands clasped and extended out like a battering ram in front of their bodies.

He shook his head to clear out the vestiges of emotion the dancing couple had inspired and set him mind to getting the Bingleys and going back to their villa.

Unfortunately, the final blow to Darcy's good mood came when he spotted Charles leading a flaxen haired siren onto the dance floor. It seemed that Charles was not of the same opinion as his friend and sisters when it came to the local scene and society. Always a good natured and happy kind of fellow, Charles Bingley made friends wherever he happened to go. It should not have surprised Darcy one bit that less than 10 minutes after entering the party, Charles had the most beautiful woman in the whole French Riviera dancing with him. She was tall with a willowy figure and wearing a seductive, low cut, green dress. Not that the dress was in any way distasteful, it was quite beautiful and fit her perfectly, but it was just a tad too alluring for Darcy's personal taste. The red dress of the laughing beauty was much more to Darcy's preference if he were choosing dancing partners based on attire alone.

Resigning himself to spending a frustrating evening watching his friend flirt his way through a room full of simpering, drunk tourists, Darcy decided to at least get a bottle of wine and enjoy it at a private table on the edge of the terrace. Walking up to the bar he signaled for the bar tender to come so he could ask if the sommelier was available for a consult. Adding another disappointment to the evening, Darcy quickly realized that Club Dauphin had a few tolerable wines in their selection but nothing of true interest or even of very good vintage. The most expensive bottle on the menu was the 1854 Château D’Yquem Sauvignon Blanc - Semillon for only $195 per bottle. Darcy already had a case of the 1862 in his London wine cellar and, while he knew it would be good enough, it was certainly not what he had hoped for. The website had boasted of a 19th-century Château Lafite Rothschilds, but the sommelier said that the bottle was a display piece and the owners would not allow it to be sold. Deciding to settle for the Château D’Yquem, Darcy headed to one of the outside tables, as far from the dancing as possible, and tried to put on his most impressively stern CEO face to keep anyone from deciding to join him.

Charles sauntered up to his table less than an hour later with what looked to be a pint of beer and a plate of oysters. He looked happy, slightly tipsy, and flushed from his non-stop dancing. Darcy had ordered a plate of the evening's fish special, which was surprisingly tasty given the disappointment with the wine, and was growing tired of the entertainment. Caroline and Louisa had taken their usual places at the bar, making condescending small talk with everyone and trying to suss-out if anyone in attendance was particularly important or well connected. From the sour look on Caroline's face, she hadn't had any success. She was currently speaking to a middle-aged woman who was using extreme hand gestures to point to everyone in the room as if she was the mayor of the small town. It was clear that Caroline found the woman crass but he also guessed that she was sadistically happy to have found someone about whom Darcy was sure they would all hear ad nauseam the next morning at breakfast. Putting down his dinner in front of the chair opposite Darcy, Bingley look altogether to content.

"I say Darce, isn't this a great party! I've never seen so many beautiful women in one place before and having such a great time. You should come with me on the dance floor. There are a few people you should meet before we leave tonight."

Darcy scowled and poured himself another glass of the tolerable wine. "Please don't tell me you have actually thrown my name out to anyone here. I don't expect to find anyone in this place that is worthy of introductions and I don't want to have to suffer anyone trying to convince me to invest in their development schemes after they hear my name. I thought we were in France to have a nice relaxing vacation, not cavort with the locals and tourists."

"I would not be so stuck-up as you for all of the Queen's gold!" Bingley shook his head at his friend's snide attitude. "For god's sake Darce, this is an art gallery fundraiser at one of the poshest hotels in the French Riviera. Even if these people can't boast of their own private jet, a London Townhouse, and a 2,500 acre estate in the north of England, they have decent money and manners enough to know how to enjoy a party. Besides, you really need to meet the sister of the woman I've been dancing with."

"I can't understand why, I'm not going to dance with either." Darcy sniffed and looked back over the water.

"Does the name Liz Bennet ring a bell?" Charles snorted when Darcy's head snapped back to attention. Unfortunately, it was clear that he was not happy about the intelligence.

"What do you mean 'Liz Bennet'? Are you saying that you have been dancing with the Executive Director of the EB Smith Foundation for the last hour?"

Charles threw up his hands in surrender because he had obviously upset his friend, though he couldn't for the life of himself understand how. "No, I've been dancing with the sister of Liz Bennet, Jane. Liz is apparently the short woman with the dark hair and a red dress. I believe she was dancing the tango earlier but has been working the room for a while now, thanking people for coming and supporting the gallery. Jane told me that the whole Bennet family, Liz, Jane, their 3 younger sister and their parents, are all staying the whole month of July in EB Smith's private villa, the one right next to ours. I though you would be ecstatic at this news. It means you don't have to wait until August to have your meeting with Liz. You can start on your quest to meet EB a whole month sooner."

Another dark cloud formed over Darcy's face. Less than 24 hours into this crazy vacation and already it was pointless. If the Bennet family was staying in the villa, it was likely that EB wouldn’t even visit at all and there was now no hope of a casual introduction. "Charles, it's not that I was unhappy about having to _wait_ for my meeting with Liz Bennet, it's that I'm required to meet with her at all! I can't believe I have to go through some corporate rigmarole to get any kind of audience with the man himself!"

Bingley stared at his friend for a few moments. Darcy had grown up with buckets of money. The Darcy Group of Companies had been started by his father, but before that, their family was "old money" English. The Darcys had an estate which had been in the family since the 1690s and several generations ago, Darcy's some number of greats-grandfather had been an Earl. There were even titled persons still in his immediate family. Needless to say, most people were lining up to get an introduction to William Darcy and he had never before been unable to make a contact or achieve a goal through sheer will power (and the occasional splash of cash). It was becoming clear to Bingley that the only reason Darcy had agreed to this vacation was to further his goal of finding EB. Perhaps spending a small fortune on the villa had been his idea of buying an introduction. Contrary to the Darcy family, Charles Bingley had grown up decidedly upper-middle class. Their trust fund money hadn't come until Charles was out of secondary school when his father sold a patent related to wool milling to one of the largest clothing manufacturers in Europe. Charles went into banking and had done really well, but he was certainly not sought after by celebrities and every elite socialite in London like Darcy.

"Will, I know you want to talk to EB Smith directly, but did it ever occur to you that Liz Bennet is actually the person you want to meet? She is the director and lawyer for the foundation and before that wasn’t she with some huge international charity organization as their Lawyer. Amnesty something? If you want help starting your own foundation, Liz Bennet is probably the right person. Even your cousin Anne said so and she has done 2 projects with the EB Smith Foundation in the last 18 months."

"I don’t need help with filling out forms and doing tax planning." Darcy poured himself another glass of wine since he had angrily consumed the last without even tasting it. "I'll hire my own legal team for that. I'm sure she has **_tolerable_** knowledge of how the business is run being the Executive Director, but I need advice and guidance from the person behind the curtain. Man to Man, rich philanthropist to rich philanthropist. Only EB Smith will understand how it feels to be a man with all the money in the world and still searching for meaning. I want to talk to a true peer. She’s probably a dirty hippie anyway, having spent her time working with charities instead of getting a good paying job at a law firm. Come to think of it, I am actually surprised EB would hire someone and give them so much trust. I bet all this secrecy was her idea and she appealed to his desires for privacy to keep people out and away from EB before she 'vets' them. Don't you think it's strange that a young woman with no previous business experience is in such a highly placed position in the Foundation? She can't be more than what 25? I bet she’s misusing trust funds. You say her whole family, all of her sisters and her parents, are currently staying in EB’s house? It seems rather convenient no one can get to EB without first going through her. That way no one could tell him she’s acting inappropriately. I wonder if my cousin Anne could send him a message about the whole thing."

"For the love of God man, what is your problem!" Bingley was flabbergasted that such a terrible speech could come from his closest and best friend. "First of all, I know from her sister that Liz is over 30 because there was talk of a big surprise for Liz's birthday in two weeks at the _Ville Santo Sospir_. We would be welcome to attend as all the guests of the resort were going to be coming, though I should forbid you to come with your scowl in place. So she's not a fledgling. Secondly, no I don't think it's crazy or suspicious that EB Smith has a trusted employee whom he uses as a bit of a shield from all of the people pushing for an introduction and begging for money. You do that too you know. How many times have you sent one of your cousins out to meet with a new potential business partner to make sure they are legit before coming to meet with the development team, hmmm? Bit of the pot and the kettle if you ask me."

Darcy had at least good enough manners to look a bit sheepish at Charles's last reprimand, but he was still unmoved regarding Liz Bennet. "You are correct that I will, _occasionally_ , send Richard or Anne to meet a new developer before giving them any of my valuable time, but this is totally different! I'm not some unknown sycophant! No one could believe I was asking for an introduction just to advance my personal social sphere or try and make a pass at EB. If he knew I was personally asking for an interview, he would definitely agree to at least lunch someday. I bet this Liz Bennet hasn't even told him I'm the person looking for an introduction. I still say we should keep an eye out for inappropriate behavior and I'm going to call my cousin tonight and tell her about the Bennet family running around as if they own the whole village!"

Not 15 seconds after Darcy’s rant ended, the woman herself appeared at their table. Liz Bennet was as stunning up close as she had seemed from a far. Her eyes twinkled with some unknown joke and she smiled brightly at both William Darcy and Charles Bingley. After thanking both men for coming and supporting the _Santa Sospir_ gallery, she gave Darcy her business card and mentioned that she could be available to move up their meeting seeing as both were going to be in France for the next 3 weeks. Before either man could do more than thank her as their host, she glided away from their table to talk to the next.

Darcy's scowl never let up. When Charles got up to continue having fun, Darcy took out his phone and sent a text off to his cousin Anne. She would be able to relay the message to EB Smith that Liz Bennet was taking advantage of the foundation's resources and playing hostess to EB's guests.


	5. Good Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some additional characters and a bit of humor at the expense of Bill Collins.

**_July 9, 2018_ **

"William George James Darcy, what the hell have you been doing in France! You haven't been there 2 days and already you are acting like a total twat, pissing off Everyone!! I swear you can be the most stuck up, judgmental person on the planet." Anne de Bourgh was not happy. She had received no fewer than 50 text messages the evening before from her cousin William Darcy, her good friend Liz Bennet, and her other friend currently in France, Charlotte Lucas. Now, he wasn't even answering his damn phone!

Anne's family estate, Rosings, had been in the de Bourgh family for more than 400 years. Several of the previous masters of the estate had earned honorary titles for service to the English crown and Anne's own father had been knighted for his service during the Falklands War. The de Bourghs had a long history of supporting charities and Anne was no different now that she owned the estate trust as the only heir to the family name following the death of her father.

In January of 2017, Anne had discovered that the project manager of a school building project the Rosings Charitable Trust was funding had been embezzling funds. With the fallout and loss of cash to the trust, Anne had contacted the EB Smith Foundation for financial and administrative help. Liz Bennet had personally come to London to fix the mess and provide immediate funds to keep the project going until the full extent of the losses and ability to recover was known. Charlotte had come to visit once during Liz's stay and the three women connected immediately.

The Lucas family owned a property management company that operated several resorts in the French Riviera, including the Meryton Villiage Resort, and a number of specialty hotels around France and England. Liz had first met Charlotte when she stayed at the hotel Sacre Coeur near Montmartre for a month in the summer of 2015. They had bonded and become particular friends during that first trip to France. When Liz was looking for investment property opportunities for the EB Smith Foundation, Charlotte introduced Liz to her father and Meryton Village whose owners were looking to sell and retire. Charlotte was originally from London and was about as good as anyone when it came to knowing the profitable real estate opportunities in the UK and Europe. Anne has also made the first steps towards diversifying trust assets with real estate using Charlotte's considerable knowledge and connections. The time spent with Charlotte was very lucrative for both the EB Smith Foundation and the Rosings Charitable Trust.

Charlotte was also currently engaged to be married to the Vicar of the church in the town closest to Anne's family estate, Bill Collins.

Originally, Bill had pursued Liz. He thought that her dedication to charitable work would make the perfect vicar's wife and, having known Liz for no more than 3 weeks, he proposed. Poorly. First he insulted her age, thirty was getting a little old to reasonably think that she would ever be able to catch another man, "especially one with his own house and garden free of any mortgage or other liens" (to quote the good vicar _exactly_ ). He also spent most of the proposal reciting the reasons he believed that an "upstanding man of the cloth" should marry. Most notably was his desire to provide his flock with an example of "Christian fruitfulness". He declared that he expected to have at least 3 children, preferable 5, and as soon as could be arranged. Finally, he chided her for living alone for so long. Apparently he thought it wasn't right for a woman's reputation. But he could overlook that small flaw if she agreed to an immediate wedding. Oh, and of course she would be required to give up her position with the Foundation and Amnesty International. Being a vicar's wife took much-to-much time for her to have other employment. But he was willing to give her a few months to effect a smooth transition.

Bill Collin's suit of Liz Bennet did not go well. At All.

Funnily enough, Bill had caught the eye of Charlotte Lucas during her visit. Charlotte wasn't overly romantic, but she wanted to have children. She was a few years older than Liz and beginning to lose hope of doing family and kids the traditional way. Bill seemed like a decent guy, if not too bright. But easily led. And she had a sizable nest egg built up over the years of working for her family's business. Charlotte was even looking forward to getting out of her father's house because her father shared Bill's opinion about unmarried woman living on their own and had always insisted on keeping Charlotte living with her parents, even though she was over 30 years old. Marriage to decent man with a nice house less than a two hours drive from the center of London who wanted kids seemed like a great prospect to Charlotte. Only three days after Bill's disastrous proposal to Liz, Charlotte had negotiated an engagement for herself. The only item she insisted on was the timing of the marriage. She would have at least 6 months of a "courtship" before announcing they were engaged to the world, and then the wedding would take another 12 months to plan. Therefore a date of late October 2018 was set and agreed to by both Bill Collins and Charlotte's family.

Liz and Anne initially had been horrified, but also kind of relieved that Bill's attention was now fully on "his beloved Charlotte" and decidedly not on Liz. Everyone has their own right to happiness, whatever that looks like.

Charlotte and Bill had even given the EB Smith Foundation and the Rosings Charitable Trust their second collaboration project with a migrant housing community building project near the vicarage to help with the growing number of migrant farm workers in the region. Amazingly, everyone had walked away from Liz and Charlotte's visit to Rosings without any hurt feelings and actually feeling good about their personal and business relationships. Never underestimate the ability of a pragmatic woman to make the world right.

Anne and Liz had formed a very tight bond over the course of Liz's first visit to Rosings. Anne knew 100% why EB Smith used Liz Bennet as a shield and that Liz was 100% trustworthy.

She also understood that Darcy was frustrated that he had to meet with Liz Bennet before he could get a proper introduction to EB Smith, but now he was just making up excuses to try and press the issue. Boy was he going to be mad when Anne continued to refuse to speed along the introduction. He would understand one day. Or maybe not, the way things were going.


	6. Frustration and Interrogation

**_July 14, 2018_ **

Caroline Bingley was in a foul mood. She had been secluded in Villefranche with Darcy for a full week and he hadn't even so much as looked at her twice. Not for any lack of trying on Caroline's part, but the man seemed completely unmoved by her ample assets. On their 5th day, Caroline had indulged in the French custom of topless sun bathing by the pool at their villa. When Darcy had come outside from breakfast, he nearly fell in the pool trying to avert his eyes from her perky (silicone enhanced) breasts. He had given her the barest of civil greetings then hurried out the back gate to the path that followed the shoreline and promptly disappeared.

Last night, she "accidentally" came into his room instead of her own when retiring for bed. Darcy had left the media room early to take a phone call from his sister and, when he never returned to the movie the Bingleys were watching, Caroline decided to follow him upstairs. Her real hope had been to catch him in his en suite taking a shower before bed, but when she opened the door he was already scrubbed and dressed in jim-jams with a glass of brandy in his hand. Caroline tried to laugh it off as a silly mistake saying that she had already taken her contacts out for the night. Then she tried to hint that she would be happy to keep him company while he sipped his drink. Darcy just stared at her blankly and said something about the comfortable size of the villa. She was forced to leave in an awkward silence punctuated by his response of only a non-committal "hmmm" when she bade him goodnight.

Now she was sitting at another dinner event hosted by the resort management company, this time at Paloma Beach, watching the patrons mingle and make unintelligent small talk. Caroline had loved the idea of coming to the Meryton Village Resort but the reality was not living up to her hopes and dreams. Originally she had though that the cost of the resort would provide them with, not only the best of accommodations, but also the best of company. Her friend, Lady Miranda Stanley, whose father was the Earl of Nottingham, had mentioned that her family had stayed at the Meryton Village Resort last year in May and that at least 2 of the villas were hosting A-List Hollywood stars. Lady Miranda had also been the one to tell Caroline that she was given to believe EB Smith frequented the resort personally, usually in July. It was just the carrot Caroline had needed to get Darcy to join them on their vacation.

Even though letting the gossip about EB Smith's travel plans slip had worked as planned, everything else after arriving had decidedly NOT gone to Caroline's plan. None of the other resort guests were the least bit interesting and the horrible Bennet family was staying in EB's house instead of EB. Caroline had nothing in particular against the oldest sister, Jane Bennet, except that she was from a poor American family who lived in Indiana (wherever that was) and that her brother was spending too much time with his eyes glued to her body.

The other Bennets were all disgusting to Caroline. The two youngest sisters, Kitty and Lydia, were way too wild and crazy, acting like a couple of chits on an American spring break binger. The youngest, Lydia, was not even old enough to drink state-side at only 19, but Caroline had never seen her consume less than 5 rounds at any event they had attended. The retched mother, Fanny Bennet, only encouraged her youngest to "enjoy some fun while they were in Europe" and did nothing to check her wild behavior. The middle sister, a Mary, was as pious and boring as her namesake implied. She was doing on her Ph.D. in ancient Hebrew and working on a project to translate texts found in Egypt thought to be original writings of the apostle Paul, or some such. She had only agreed to the vacation with her family because the Sophia Antipolis University in Nice, France, about 30 minutes from the resort, was hosting a symposium on new interpretations to ancient texts. Mary had agreed to present a few of her papers as well as attend several lectures by visiting faculty. And she told everyone who would listen, and even some who would not have if she had not cornered them, that she was not here for any of the silly partying in which everyone else was participating. The father was not around enough to criticize his public behavior, but his lack of manners in not attending the resort parties was enough for Caroline to complain about.

But it was Liz Bennet that Caroline absolutely loathed. On their very first evening after arriving in Villefranche, Caroline had formed a negative opinion of the woman. She had been wearing a divine red satin creation and was drawing the attention of everyone in the room, even Darcy. Caroline had watched Darcy drool all over her while she was dancing that ridiculous Tango with the son of a French winery magnate. At least that first night, Darcy had left her well enough alone after staring at her dance for close to 10 minutes. During the next event they had attended, a tennis tournament at the resort's sports complex attached to the management office, Caroline had watched Darcy closely as he, not so conspicuously, followed Liz around the venue while she mingled with the other resort guests. Caroline had been satisfied that Darcy was somehow offended by the woman and let the matter drop. Then, three days ago, they had joined a tour of the highlights of the area, which the Bennets also attended, and after catching Darcy staring once again at Liz Bennet, Caroline had asked what he found so intriguing which required such intense study. His answer had been infuriating. _"I can enjoy a pair of fine eyes as well as any other man, without requiring deep thought, can I not?"_

Fine eyes indeed!

Well, Caroline was not about to take Darcy's apparent interest in the person of Liz Bennet lying down. She hatched a plan to learn more about the Bennet family from Jane without having to degrade herself further with the presence of any of the rest of them. Enlisting Louisa's help, Caroline issued an invitation to Jane Bennet to accompany the two sisters on a jaunty sail around the coast and the bay in a rented 14 foot Daysailer. Caroline hoped to interrogate Jane about the Bennet family, their connections, Liz's relationship with EB Smith and the Foundation, and anything else she decided was of interest at the time. The main object of this information gathering was to embarrass Liz in front of Darcy at the next planned resort outing or dinner, drawing attention to the great difference in the status of herself and the American chit.

 

**_July 16, 2018_ **

Fanny Bennet was ecstatic with Jane's boating adventure invitation, convinced that it was Jane's chance to get the approval of the sisters to become engaged to the brother with all due haste (after one week of knowing each other). No amount of loud protesting from Liz that it was too soon to even consider exclusively dating Charles nor gentle reminders from Jane and she actually wanted to spend time with Caroline and Louisa as potential new friends in their own right could convince Fanny that this was anything other than some archaic courting ritual. She promptly orchestrated the removal of the rest of the Bennet family from the immediate area (except Liz who still had duties as the resort's hostess) and instructed Jane in all manner of things she should do to ensure she would close the deal on catching Charles Bingley (which Jane promptly ignored with only minimal guilt for being a poor daughter).

On the morning of the planned boat outing, Liz went with Jane and the Bingley sisters to pick up their boat from the marina, and then decided to take the nature trail back to the resort for a nice mid-morning walk.

Once instructed in the basics of operating the Daysailer, it was obvious that Jane was the only one of the three boaters who had any prior knowledge or experience with operating an actual sail boat. Caroline and Louisa were both horrified at the thought that they would have to actually do … something … to make the boat go in the right direction. They were also under the false impression that one of the marina employees would be coming with them, but there was no one to actually provide that service. So, off the threesome went. Jane with trepidation and the Bingley sisters with their unaffected indifference.

While Jane eventually managed to get the boat heading in the direction of the Meryton Village Resort from the marina, it was extremely hard considering neither Caroline nor Louisa lifted one finger to help pull the boom or set the sails. Then there was the issue that the two useless women kept shifting their positions to try to stay in the shade of the sail so they didn't ruin their complexions. Finally, after much effort and physical exertion, Jane had the sail boat balanced and traveling in the general direction of their villas. As soon as Jane sat down on the side of the boat to enjoy the company of her companions, the inquisition started.

"So, _dear Jane_ , tell me all about _In-dee-aah-na_. What is there to do for fun there?" Caroline had been to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and skiing in the mountains near Aspen, but her general understanding of the United States geography was decidedly lacking. She had no idea what-so-ever where Indiana was located and presumed it was somewhere in the great wide middle that no one talked about. Caroline's concept of most of the United States was just lots of farm land and factories.

"Well," Jane started, "my parents live in a medium sized suburb of the largest city in the state, Indianapolis, and my sisters and I attended a private catholic school on the north-side. Indy is known most widely for the annual car race, the Indy500, which pretty much shuts down much of the city for the month of May. There's also a professional football team, professional basketball team, semi-professional baseball team and a number of highly regarded museums in the city. As kids, we loved the Children's Museum, which is one of the biggest museums in the world dedicated to children's education and play. Once I grew up, I switched to preferring Newfields Museum of Art, but I have to admit that Liz and I still sometimes take our young cousins to the Children's museum when there are new exhibits or at Christmas to see Santa. There is this giant clock that uses water to tell the time with different globes for the hour and the minute. It's like 3 stories tall, and a one of a kind in the world. I have always loved to watch it change over the hour and see all the water, which is dyed a vibrant blue color, drain from the top to the bottom in less than 20 seconds. It's especially impressive when the hour changes from 12:59pm to 1:00pm because all of the hour globes and the minute globes drain."

Caroline gave Jane a blank look and Louisa didn't look at her at all. "That sounds … nice. A water clock? How interesting."

"We also have several nice theaters and the normal comportment of restaurants, malls, movie theaters, and you know all the things people need to live. I think Indy is like the 16th or 17th largest city in the US."

"How interesting." Caroline was floundering for anything else to say. "Didn't I hear that you moved to Illinois recently. Where is that?"

"Yes, I moved to Chicago about 2 years ago for work."

Caroline perked up at this. "Oh! I love Chicago. All the shopping! Do you know Oprah?"

"Why in the world would I know Oprah?" Jane frowned at the absurdity of the question.

"Well, doesn't she live in Chicago? I believe it is extremely important to try and make inroads with the movers and shakers of any place if one wants to get ahead in life. You know, the social scene in London is _very_ important and we make it a point to be seen everywhere we can and meet everyone in our same socio-economic sphere, for the good of our family's business interests and our own charitable endeavors." Caroline sniffed and looked casually over at the water.

Before Jane could even posit a reply to this ridiculousness, a sight wave hit the side of the boat and sprayed water over the side onto both Caroline and Louisa. The ladies shrieked and flailed about without any regard for keeping the boat balanced. Suddenly the boom swung around and then the world went black for Jane.


	7. Mismatched Affection

**_July 16, 2018_ **

Charles Bingley was exceedingly happy that his sisters had invited Jane Bennet to go out sailing. Since the first night they had all met the Bennet family, Charles felt a connection with Jane. She was smart, kind, unbelievably hot, and had her life pretty much figured out. Simply put, Jane Bennet fascinated him. She and her sister Liz were running an international philanthropic organization and moving half way around the world without any qualms or second thoughts. And they were doing it for very modest pay, all things considered. Jane had taken a 20% pay cut to work for the EB Smith Foundation but wasn't worried about her future financial security at all. Liz had left a good paying job with a large US law firm to do international philanthropy work a few years ago and never looked back. Until meeting Jane and Liz, Charles hadn’t even contemplated a life of moderately comfortable means could be filled with so much purpose.

Even though Charles had a large inheritance from his late father and a high 6-figure paying job in banking with full benefits and the ability to work remotely (hence the 3+ week long vacation), he always felt the pressure to make more money. Somehow, people with tons of money also managed to spend tons of money on things and keeping up with the other people with tons of money. Charles had never really been comfortable with a monthly expenses budget in the tens of thousands range, but Caroline insisted that they would be ostracized if they didn't keep at least a full time cook and housekeeper. There was also no evidence in his daily life that Caroline was wrong. All of his friends had cooks and maids and drivers and personal shoppers, and, and, and ….  It wasn't a life Charles would have chosen for himself, but he was lost as to how to extricate himself from it.

At least this latest development in acquaintances had shown him that there are good people of moderate means in the world who would like him for himself and not for his trust fund, contrary to what Caroline and Darcy tended to think. Also, he thought that Jane wouldn't mind one iota if he didn't keep a cook and a housekeeper. Proof positive had been when she had invited him over to the Bennet's villa for dinner two nights ago and served a meal that the Bennet women had all contributed to which was, in Charles's opinion, far and away more delicious than anything the French cook his sister hired had ever served. Then all 6 women cleaned the plates together without any complaining, a task that took less than 15 minutes with so much help. And the kicker had been a fabulously decadent chocolate mousse cheesecake which Jane had made. She even ate a whole piece instead of 2 small bits before declaring that she was stuffed full. Now, Charles could find himself overjoyed with a partner who could actually bake and eats real food. So what if her figure wasn't rail thin? Protruding ribs were not a good look, ever.

The invitation from Caroline and Louisa had Charles hopeful that the tides were turning and his snobbish sisters were finally finding someone they liked outside of the " _London Ton_ " (as if that was still a thing). Charles certainly like Jane enough for all three of them.

Darcy was under no illusion as to why Caroline had taken Jane out for a “girls-only adventure” and he was not comfortable with the meanness underlying the attention paid by the Bingley sisters. Over the last week, Darcy had come to admire the two eldest Bennet sisters as genuinely kind and intelligent young women. He didn’t approve of treating them with distain just because they would not have been able to stay at Meryton Village without Liz’s connection to the EB Smith Foundation. Not that he was looking for any lasting friendship or association with either, but there’s a difference between being civil to people and bringing them home to meet the family. Regardless of his feelings on the matter, Darcy was also not comfortable with the amount of attention that Caroline had been paying him during this trip, so instead of engaging with her, he decided to hide in his room or escape the house for walks along the shoreline. It seemed easier to allow Caroline to come to her own erroneous conclusions regarding his acquiesce to her schema than put forth the effort required to challenge her.

Even though there was no reason to escape the house on the morning that Caroline, Louisa and Jane went sailing, Darcy had come into a sort of routine walking along the nature trail after breakfast, so he headed outside for a brisk walk at his usual time. After less than a quarter hour walking up the nature trail along the coast, he saw Liz Bennet coming towards the villas, walking in the opposite direction as himself. Anticipating an enjoyable conversation, Darcy picked up his pace.

Liz was much less happy about seeing Darcy than he was at seeing her, but since they were walking in opposite directions, Liz decided to be generous with her greeting and nodded with a tight smile. In truth, she could not stand the man. Before she could even introduce herself to Darcy, she had formed the – totally justified – opinion that he was an enormous snob. His comments at the gallery _Soirée_ had proved he was nothing but a spoiled brat and sexist to boot. But it was his behavior during the subsequent 7 days that really solidified her negative opinion of the ultra-rich elitist.

Judgmental, egotistical, unkind, and, to top it all off, he kept following her around listening in on her conversations. From his comments at the _Soirée_ , she knew he was doing it to find out some impropriety on her part and then report her actions back to the Foundation through his cousin, Anne. It didn't matter that Liz knew he wouldn't find anything, or that even if he thought he did, it would fall on deaf ears with Anne and at the Foundation.

The impertinence of the man!

Liz hated his very presence, but she was respectful and polite – he had an open application for EB Smith Foundation and was a current guest of the Foundation at the resort. Just because he had lost his manners along somewhere in his giant money bin didn’t mean that Liz was going to treat him without civility. She would have to endure for another 2 weeks then one lunch in London in August to discuss his project and they'd be done forever. She would listen to his proposal, assess if there was any merit to working with him further, and then find someone else, preferably Anne de Bourgh, to be his advisor. While Liz would never make a final decision until all the formalities were observed, it was nearly a guarantee that he was never going to be given access to the real EB Smith. William Darcy would have to go through a major transformation in attitude before EB Smith would even want to extend an invitation to meet in person.

While Darcy had made a snap judgment the _Soirée_ and expressed unkind opinions out of frustration and anger, he was now of a very different opinion regarding Liz Bennet that his first impression. After the _Soirée_ , de did initially follow her around to try and catch her in an impropriety, but soon found that she was funny, kind, intelligent, well read, and extremely entertaining. She discussed the international politics of the Brexit debate beautifully for an American, seemed extremely well versed in EU trade policy and her work with Amnesty International obviously had given her some significant international exposure. Additionally, he found her wit was irresistible. It didn't take may days before Darcy started to feel like he wanted to get to know Liz more and he had decided that having to discuss his project with her before getting to EB Smith wouldn't be a complete waste of time after all. He had even declined her invitation to have their project meeting during his stay in France so that he would have an excuse to see her in August.

When the two reached each other on the nature trail, Darcy turned to start walking back towards the villas with Liz. Always suspecting that Darcy preferred silence to inane small talk, Liz was shocked (and a bit dismayed) when he asked how her family is fairing – even though they had all been at dinner together just the other night. Liz groined internally but answered civilly with forced politeness. After a very awkward several minutes, Liz spoted her savior in the form of Charles Bingley sitting on a dock looking out towards a small Daysailor coming up the coast.

“Charles! Ahoy. Are you planning to join Jane and you sisters on their adventure?” Liz shouted, a bit suddenly and too loudly. She also hurried in the direction of the dock in an attempt to divert Darcy’s attention.

“Good Morning Liz. No, I’m land bound, but I thought I saw them from the breakfast parlor and came out to investigate. Do you think that is their boat coming this way?”

Liz stepped up to the edge of the dock and squinted into the morning sun to get a better look. “Yup, I’d say that is their boat, it’s the same color as the one they rented and there looks to be 3 women aboard.”

Just as Darcy came to the end of the dock to join his friend and Liz, the boat hit a small waive causing some splash to go over the edge. Those on land heard the high-pitched shriek and watched as the boat became unstable. Liz let loose her own yelp as she watched the boom of the boat smack Jane in the temple. Caroline and Louisa continued to jostle the boat without any concept of how their actions were affecting the other occupant. A few heart stopping moments later and Jane tumbled off the side of the boat into the shallow water.

Thankfully the boat had come pretty close to the shore and was only about 50 yards away from the dock when Jane went overboard. Charles was swimming out to get her before Liz could scream for help. Darcy also sprang into action, pulling out his phone and calling 112 for an ambulance.

When Charles managed to drag Jane out of the water, she is unconscious but breathing. The ambulance arrives minutes later and in all the commotion, Charles climbed into the transport with Jane. Darcy immediately lead Liz to their rental car and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

No one gave a second thought to Caroline and Louisa who were still stranded in the sailboat.


	8. Recuperation

**_July 18, 2018_ **

Liz signed as she mentally prepared herself to go downstairs for dinner. The last two days had been an exhausting trial. Thankfully, Jane escaped from the boat incident with only a concussion. Unfortunately, it was a pretty bad concussion which the doctors had said needed extremely close monitoring. After nearly 8 hours in A&E, the doctors had only let Jane leave the hospital with a promise from Liz that she would make sure to wake Jane every 90 minutes for the subsequent 12 hours in order to ensure that her condition didn't deteriorate. It had been extremely difficult trying to discus Jane’s care with the doctors who spoke minimal English since Liz only speaks enough French to order cheese and wine. Thankfully (but bafflingly), Darcy had stuck around the entire time Liz and Charles waited in the waiting room since he speaks fluent French. While Liz had been extremely annoyed that he was hovering about, she was glad that he got Jane’s full care instructions and her medication dose from the doctors.

Even more baffling was Darcy’s suggestion that Jane and Liz come back to the Bingley’s villa to stay for the night so that they could take turns waking Jane up and giving her the medicine. Liz tried to demure insisting that she would be fine, it was only 12 hours. But Darcy and Charles insisted. Apparently Darcy’s own sister had suffered a similar concussion recently and it was only with the help of his housekeeper and cook that he was able to make it through the cycle of waking her up which Darcy described as disorientating even for the care giver. Since the rest of the Bennet family was out on their own adventures for at least the next 2 nights, Liz allowed herself and Jane to be bundled back into the ridiculous car and taken to the Bingley’s villa after a short stop at the Bennet’s villa for some clothes and toothbrushes.

Upon arriving, Charles picked Jane up, out of the car and helped her into the house while Liz grabbed their bags and Darcy put the top back on the car. As soon as the door to the garage opened, Caroline’s voice could be heard shrieking from somewhere inside the house.

“Charles!! Is that you?!? I cannot _believe_ that you left Louise and I out on that ridiculous boat! We were stranded for nearly an hour before we finally drifted close enough to shore for someone to come to our aide. My tan line is veritably ruined! Then we had to explain to those idiots at the rental place that the boat was floating in the lagoon and they needed to come get it and they had the audacity to be MAD and US! After that faulty thing nearly killed us! And what has taken you so long .…” Caroline stopped short when she came around the corner to see Charles holding up a half asleep Jane sporting a bandage on her head.

“Really Charles, don’t you think it is inappropriate to bring a young woman into our villa without a proper chaperone? What would Will say if he knew you had brought her here?”

Charles was utterly unprepared for his sister’s attack, though it was no surprise to Darcy or Liz, and just stared at Caroline for a few moments until Darcy piped up from door leading to the garage. “Really Caroline, we aren’t living in 1813, no one cares that a bunch of unmarried people are together alone in a house together. As to what I would say, it was my idea. Liz cannot be expected to care for Jane on her own and the rest of the Bennets are out for the next 2 days. Charles, Liz and I will take turns keeping Jane awake for the next 12 hours per the doctors’ instructions, then she’ll sleep here all day tomorrow to recuperate. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go take a nap so that I can relieve Liz in 4 hours. Good Day.” Then Darcy had stalked off to his room.

While his words had been in defense of the Jane and Liz, his manner had been harsh and high handed. Even though he towers over everyone else in physical height, Liz swore that he held his head tilted up at such an angle as to require that he literally looked down his nose at everyone. And despite his contention that it wasn’t 1813, he did a short bow before stomping away. Liz had the impression of the man as someone who knew all of the socially acceptable things to do and say but performed his part badly. Certainly a step above Caroline’s open hostility, but only a small step.

Darcy had knocked on Jane’s door exactly 4 hours after Charles and Liz had settled Jane in one of the guest rooms. Liz was hard pressed to admit it, but she was feeling pretty strained having to wake Jane up every 90 minutes while fretting about her condition in between wake-up calls. It had been difficult to remember which of the times she was supposed to give Jane her medicine. As soon as Darcy opened the door and took over Jane’s vigil, Liz had fallen deep asleep in the adjoining room. Liz closed her eyes about midnight and didn’t even begin to stir until past noon.

After checking on Jane, who had been sleeping soundly for a few hours after eating a full breakfast with Charles at 8am, Liz walked to the resort office to check in with Charlotte. Finding nothing important which needed Liz’s attention right then, she headed back to the Bingley villa to sit with Jane.

Now, it was nearly 6:00pm, and Charles had insisted that they let Jane continue to sleep while Liz joined the rest of the party for dinner. So down to the sharks she descended.

Liz found the Bingleys, Louisa and her husband (who still hadn’t said more than 2 words to Liz and whose name she didn’t actually know), and Darcy sitting in the front parlor waiting for their butler to call them all into the dining room, which Liz didn’t think was weird _at all_. Of course normal people had cooks and butlers to server them dinner. Shaking her head, Liz entered the room and was immediately pounced upon by Caroline.

“Good evening _Eliza_ , how kind of you to grace us with your presence instead of sleeping the day completely away.”

Somehow Liz managed not to roll her eyes. “Hello Caroline. I got up about noon but had to take care of some things at the resort office before coming back for dinner. Thanks for inviting me Charles. I’m sure I could have scrounged up something in our villa, but Jane will probably feel better if I’m here when she finally comes to.”

“How is Jane doing? Did she wake up at all?” Liz tried to hide a small smile at Charles’s obvious concern for Jane.

“No, she hasn’t woken up yet, but the doctor did warn us that after the constant wake-up calls last night she would be pretty out of it for the whole day and maybe all night. I was planning to leave a sandwich and some water in her room before I go to sleep again so if she wakes up hungry there will be food in easy reach. Even though I slept for more than 12 hours, I feel like I could go to bed early and sleep all night again.”

“That is normal, I believe. You had a stressful day yesterday and emotional stress takes a toll just like physical stress.” Darcy again managed to say something nice, but in a tone full of derision and scorn.

“Will you be staying with us again tonight _Eliza_?”

Instead of answering the sneering question, Liz addressed the peculiar nickname Caroline had come up with on her own. “You know, no one has ever called me ‘Eliza” before. While my given name is Elizabeth, I prefer ‘Liz’ over other names. My family used to call me ‘Lizzy’ when I was a child and my father still does sometimes, but I can’t say I know anyone who goes by ‘Eliza’.”

Caroline sniffed. “Well, perhaps it’s not a common nickname in _America_ but you know we Brits have a much more storied history with the name ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Eliza’ is a common nickname in the UK. Perhaps you’ve heard of the famous character from the book _My Fair Lady_ , Eliza Doolittle. She was a rags-to-riches story and a fitting comparison for someone in your situation, don’t you think?”

Liz simply lifted one eyebrow at Caroline. While she was perfectly happy to be likened to Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews, the implication that she is an undereducated urchin who gets lifted up by a snobbish society man for the sport of a bet was less flattering. “Do you mean Eliza Doolittle from the play _Pygmalion_?”

“No, I mean what I said. Whether or not you have actually had enough education to read the book _My Fair Lady_ , it was turned into a popular movie. Don’t they teach classic literature in the States?” Caroline sniffed again.

Now Liz had to actively stifle a laugh. “Of course they teach classic literature in Indiana, but they also teach famous plays along with books. _Pygmalion_ was a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912 which was adopted to a stage musical called _My Fair Lady_ , then eventually turned into a film. It was never a book. I was also required to read an absurd amount of classical philosophy and sociology in Law School, which is a doctorate level degree in the United States. So, as far as the people in this room, unless one of you holds a Ph.D. that I’m not aware of, I am the most highly educated person in the room.”

A third sniff from Caroline. “Well, I may not have a technical degree that carries the title of ‘doctorate’ but I’m certain my education is more well rounded than anyone who focused so narrowly on one subject. A truly accomplished person these days should play at least one instrument, be able to sing, draw, dance, have full knowledge of the modern languages, and posses manners so as to be at ease in the best of company.”

To all this Darcy added, “And, I think, anyone who could be considered accomplished should have something more substantial, in the improvement of his or her mind by extensive reading.”

“Well!” exclaimed Liz, “I’m sure I don’t know anyone who meets that description, and my second cousin is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon! Apparently doing brain surgery on infants isn’t good enough for _London Society_.”

Thankfully, before anyone had to respond to that outburst, the butler came in and announced dinner.


	9. Old Friends

**_July 21, 2018_ **

“I swear if you grumble at me one more time, I’m going to leave you here with this mountain of paperwork and bills, ALONE! What is going on with you today?” Charlotte looked over at her best friend, fully aware what was putting Liz in such a bad mood, but also knowing that bringing attention to the situation would not actually help anything. Toady was the anniversary of The Funeral. While the car accident leading to The Funeral had happened 15 days prior, Liz had been unconscious for 3 days, then stuck in a hospital bed for another 4, before being allowed to go home, and didn’t actually remember anything about the accident. The Funeral was the real traumatic event in Liz’s mind and its anniversary never failed to put her in a grumpy mood. Charlotte was walking a fine line, calling out Liz’s mood in an attempt to make her talk, but not coddling her friend which she knew would make Liz pissed and less likely to open up even a little.

Liz sighed. Fully aware what Charlotte was doing, she pinched the bridge of her nose and attempted to apologize. “I’m sorry Char. I know that today I’m being unreasonable, but I have to get these grant applications in order with my notes and recommendations before the Foundation’s Board meeting next week. I’m not even half way done with the various open applications for grants under $50k and the board will want to discuss the five applications for over $1M in significant detail. I haven’t been able to meet with the guy from that African NGO – the Free Wakanda Foundation. He was supposed to come to France last week but had to reschedule due to an emergency at one of the schools they have been working with. His paperwork isn’t finished, and I need his signature on several documents before we can finalize the grant. I’m interested in our first school project in Africa, but the US IRS will have my butt if we don’t get the tax paperwork finalized before cutting a check.”

“Why did they choose a fictional place as the name of their foundation? I mean _Wakanda_? Isn’t that copyright protected and a little racist?” Charlotte was not impressed with the state of the application for the Africa project or the professionalism of the people apparently running the organization, but Liz had been contacted by someone she knew through Amnesty International about the new NGO trying to get its first project off the ground. The project was still in the investigative phase, but Liz was confident that the Board would greenlight an initial grant of $50,000. Technically, Liz was authorized to accept 5 grants a month up to $50K without Board approval, but she always gave the Board the summary details of the projects she deemed appropriate for a rubber stamp vote as a back-up and check on her own power.

“It’s fair use and obviously not an infringement on the comic books or movies. Plus, it has Millennial appeal. Not every NGO has to sound like something Bill and Melinda Gates would come up with. Just because Wakanda is a fictional African nation doesn’t make it racist. It would be racist to appropriate the culture of a real place.” Liz’s phone chirped with a text message just as the door to the gallery office opened and Liz’s sister Lydia walked in followed by a handsome man with bleached blond curls and designer jeans.

“Lizzy! Look who we found wandering the parking lot! This hottie claims he is here to see you, but I’m sure I can persuade him to come hang out with the much cooler Bennets. Kitty and I were just about to head over to the Wine Pier then catch the afternoon sun at Mayssa Beach. Why don’t you come with us instead of hanging about this old art gallery?” Lydia winked at the handsome stranger and toyed with the wrap-tie to her swim suit cover-up.

Liz just rolled her eyes. “Lydia, how many times have I told you that I’m not really on vacation and you can’t just burst into my office whenever you want. I’m sure Mr. ….”

“Wickham. George Wickham.”

“I’m sure Mr. Wickham has important business to have come all the way to Santo Sospir. You and Kitty go on and see if Jane and Charles want to join you at the beach. I’ll catch up tonight.” Liz extended her hand to George Wickham and tried to usher her sister out the door.

Lydia resisted the shove from her sister and spun back around. “But Lizzy! I haven’t even had time to give Mr. Tall and Sun Kissed my phone number if he wants to meet up with us later.” Lydia grabbed Liz’s pen off the office desk and seized George’s hand, writing her cell phone on his palm before winking again and sashaying out the door.

Liz sighed. “I apologize for my sister Mr. Wickham. She’s here for a few weeks on vacation from college and seems to forget that some of us have real jobs. Let me start from the beginning. I’m Liz Bennet, Executive Director and General Council for the EB Smith Foundation. Welcome to our offices. What can I do for you today?”

George Wickham turned a million watt smile on Liz and shook her hand with a firm grasp. “Ms. Bennet, I’m extremely pleased to make your acquaintance. Call me George. I’m very sorry that my associate, Frank Denny, had to cancel on you last week, but overjoyed to be able to come in his place. I’m here on behalf of Free Wakanda.”

“Oh! Wonderful. Charlotte and I were just talking about how I needed to get the paperwork for your grant cleaned up before taking it to the Board for final approval next week. You have showed up at just the right moment. Please come this way and we can go over the 501(c)(3) information we need for the tax filings.” Liz directed George to take the chair at the table she used as a desk.

As Liz shuffled through her folders for open grant applications looking for the Free Wakanda file, George picked up the one closest to him. “Pemberley Foundation? Is EB Smith working with the Darcy family on a project?”

“Do you know the Darcys?” Liz tactfully took the Pemberley folder from George and put it on the bottom of the pile in her hands.

“Oh yeah. I know the Darcy family. I practically grew up at their estate in Northern England. It’s also called ‘Pemberley’ which is how I recognized the name. Only one person would be pretentious enough to use the name of his family’s estate as the name of his supposed charitable foundation.” George sneered at the mention of the Darcy name.

Liz laughed at George’s description of Will Darcy. “It seems you are very well acquainted with at least Will Darcy. I can’t think of a better word that _pretentious_ , but I would also add snobbish, rude, egotistical, and sexist.”

“The sister, Georgiana, is no better. My father was the head of HR for Darcy Construction before he passed away when I was 17. And Will’s dad was my godfather. After my own dad died, Old Mr. Darcy took me in for my last year of sixth form then supported me during my gap year. Once I started at the College of Central London, he paid my tuition and gave me money for living expenses so that my small inheritance from my own father could be saved. Unfortunately, Old Mr. Darcy died when I was in my second year at university and Will was not inclined to continue paying for my education. I wasn’t a good enough student to get a scholarship, so I dropped out. At least I still had some friends willing to help me do what I really wanted to do – help people.”

Liz was entranced and incensed listening to George’s history with the Darcy family. “I cannot believe Will Darcy just cut you off from getting your education! He’s got _hundreds of millions_ of pounds! He couldn’t give you, what, £60,000 for three years worth of tuition and living expenses in London to finish your degree? Is he that petty as to cut off his father’s godson?”

George spread his hands in a placating manner. “I’m not here to spread ill-will towards Will Darcy. He and I were good friends when we were kids, but once he went off to Cambridge, I wasn’t good enough for him anymore. I though that there was supposed to be something for me in Old Mr. Darcy’s will, but Will’s lawyers said something about conditions that weren’t satisfied, so I never got the money. I also wasn’t notified about my godfather’s death for, like 6 months, since Will and I weren’t really talking by that time. I had already started working with the people who would become my partners here with Free Wakanda, so we really could have used that money to jump start our activities in Africa.”

An indignant huff escaped Liz. “You don’t have to spread any ill-will here, Will has done enough of that himself. As you saw, he wants to do a joint project with the EB Smith Foundation, and he really wants to meet my boss personally. Will made his disdain for the Foundation’s procedures known the first night I met him here in France. EB is really private and doesn’t make personal appearances unless a project of a certain size requires personal involvement. Most everything goes through me, my staff, and the Board of Directors. Apparently, Will Darcy thinks his bank account should give him extra access and he finds me _tolerably_ competent, but not qualified to help the illustrious Will Darcy navigate the process. He even came all the way to France and rented one of our Villas for a moth in order to try and circumvent having to meet with me before getting an appointment with EB Smith.”

George whistled. “WOW! That’s pretty low, even for Will. He’s usually better at playing along with the good guy persona in public. Is he here now?”

“He is at the resort with his friends, the Bingleys, but he’ll be going back to his own hole in the ground on the 31st. Good riddance. What about your inheritance? Did the estate not save the amount and give you reasonable time to satisfy the conditions that you couldn’t have known about in advance? Do you want someone to look into that for you?” Liz started searching for a clean legal pad to take notes.

George stilled her hand. “I appreciate you listening to me and jumping to my aide Ms. Bennett, but that ship has sailed. It has been more than 10 years and I’ve got Free Wakanda now. We don’t want to take away from our work to fight with a super-rich d-bag.”

Liz sighed. “You are right, and please, call me Liz. It’s probably too late and not worth anyone’s time. I just come from a litigation background and hate to see someone cheated in this way. It’s good you were able to get past it. Why don’t we move on to the paperwork that needs to be finished. I have not yet received your tax determination letter form the IRS and the application was missing which section of the IRS code you rely on for your status designation in the US. Your paperwork says you are a US entity even though you personally are a British citizen, correct?”

“That is correct Liz. I am a British citizen, but the two guys I started the group with are from the US. Frank Denny and Colin Forster. We decided to incorporate in the US since its easier to operate as a new charity there for the first few years before getting final determination from the IRS. I though you talked to Colin Forster already and he sent this information? Isn’t he an old friend of yours from Amnesty International?” George rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over the paperwork Liz had handed him to finish.

“Colin and I met at an Amnesty conference a few years ago, yes. I don’t remember at the time who he was working for, and I can’t remember if Amnesty took on the project, but I didn’t work on it personally. We saw each other again last spring at another conference on education projects in Africa and he was with Free Wakanda by then. He recommended I talk to Frank. Colin didn’t actually make the application, Frank did. I understand that all of this can be hard to navigate at the same time you are trying to actually do good deeds for people in need, but you understand that the EB Smith Foundation has a significant amount of money and investments that all could become subject to US tax if we don’t do the steps right for each grant. I’m more than happy to help you and Free Wakanda get the paperwork ready so that we can do good things together. This packet has all of the information we need and if you haven’t formalized your Form 1023 filing yet to get your determination letter, I can also help you with that.” Liz looked down at her notes and the partially completed paperwork. “Free Wakanda is classified as a church, is that correct?”

“Yes, we are a faith-based organization and have a place of worship in Kearny, New Jersey just outside of Newark. Its where Colin is from originally. In fact, the church is one of the things that Will Darcy and I fought about. My godfather always supported my religious convictions and aspirations, but Will thinks that you can only be properly religious if you adhere to the strict dictates of the Anglican Church. His sister, at one time, was curious about other places of worship, but Will squashed that pretty quickly. She won’t even talk to me anymore. The last time I saw her was a year ago during a trip to New York she took with some friends. I was in New Jersey at the time and she came by the church once. Will found out and freaked! He called the police and everything. Several of our parishioners who were from Africa and visiting the US were even arrested and deported. Something about the wrong type of visa. Well that was right after Trump took office and the whole Sanctuary City hubbub stuff plus new ICE directives. Lots of NGOs were having trouble with programs that existed under Obama just going poof in the night. It was a total mess. Georgiana went home on a private plane and I had to come back to the UK. Frank and Colin were left to clean up the mess in Jersey.”

Liz somehow suppressed the urge to stamp her foot. “I cannot believe that he would call the police on a church! Man, that guy really makes me angry.”

Liz’s phone chirped again, and George checked his own watch. “Liz, this has been a very enlightening visit and I’m really thankful that you have all of this tax information for me. Unfortunately, I have to get going to catch my flight this afternoon back to London and I’m not the right person to fill out these tax forms. That’s Colin’s department. He had originally told me that this trip was a final step to sign papers and pick up the first check. I can see that was not the right information and he hasn’t finished what he was supposed to finish. I will, however, be seeing him in person soon and we will talk about this tax paperwork. I don’t believe we will make it back to you in time for a Board meeting next week, but are your Board meetings monthly? We can probably make August or September.”

“I understand, and yes, we have Board meetings monthly, on the last Friday of every month. I’ll pencil Free Wakanda on the agenda for August’s meeting and just let me know if you don’t think you’ll make it next month. Also, do let me know if you need help with the paperwork. I’m happy to help you fill out the required information and get it filed with a request for expedited determination.” Liz stood up and offered her hand to George one more time. George took her hand, turned it over and placed a lingering kiss to the knuckles.

“It has been an immense pleasure Liz Bennet. I hope we will see each other again soon.”


	10. The Party

**_July 21, 2018_ **

As soon as the door to the gallery closed, Charlotte spoke up. “Well, that guy was a creeper.”

Liz whirled around and looked at Charlotte with a shocked expression. “What do you mean Char, he was perfectly nice. Much nicer than the horrible Bingley sisters or _Will Darcy_. Ugh! Did you hear how he totally screwed over George?!? Some people aren’t worth the air they breathe, no matter how much money they have. And it didn’t occur to me how pretentious it is to name a house then call your foundation after that house, but, come on. Only ridiculous stuck-up snobs would even think that’s okay. I mean right?”

“Isn’t Anne’s estate called Rosings Park and her foundation the Rosings Charitable Trust? You’ve never though Anne was pretentious.”

Liz scratched her head and had the good manners to look sheepish. “I guess you got me there. It is a similar situation, but Anne doesn’t treat people like dirt, so she can have a pass. Besides, wasn’t her father a knight? Like actually knighted by Queen Elizabeth? What’s the point of nobility if you can’t be a little pretentious.”

Charlotte gave Liz a scrutinizing glare for a few moments. “I still say that guy was sleezy, dressed like a pimp, and I didn’t like how quick he was to go into so much negative detail about people you hardly know. It was suspicious.”

“You are overreacting. I’m a great judge of character and I think George is a really genuine person who has overcome prejudice and hardship. As soon as Free Wakanda has their IRS determination letter, I’m going to greenlight their project. You’ll see, George Wickham and his organization will become a big name in African aide.”

Both ladies were startled out of their conversation by the door to the gallery suddenly slamming open. Will Darcy, followed closely by Charles Bingley, rushed through the open door.

“Did either of you see a blond man about 6’ 1” walk by? Did he talk to you? I just saw someone get in a rental car out in the parking lot and it looked like someone I would rather not see again. I need to know if he is following me.” Darcy was out of breath and looked a bit wild. His words came out slightly louder than he would have liked.

Liz took a deep breath, looked at Charlotte for a moment then turned to Will Darcy hoping to project calm instead of the rage she felt inside. “Mr. Darcy, Charlotte and I just said goodbye to a representative from one of the charitable organizations applying for a grant from the Foundation. It was most likely that gentleman you saw driving away. I assure you, he was not here to see you, but me.”

“What was his name!” Darcy spat the words out and balled his fists at his side.

Charlotte could see Liz was about to give the poor man a hernia by refusing to say, so she stood up and answered before Liz could demure. “His name was George Wickham. He was representing the Free Wakanda Foundation, which did indeed make an application to the EB Smith Foundation about 6 weeks ago for a small grant. He indicated that he had to catch a flight this afternoon back to England, so we don’t anticipate seeing him again before your stay is over.”

“Thank you, Charlotte.” Liz ground her teeth together and sent her friend the look of death.

The thunderous look in Darcy’s eyes did not abate at Charlotte’s information. Without saying another word, he turned on his heals and stormed out of the gallery office.

“Okaaaay…. I’m not sure what just happened there, but whatever.” Charles Bingley tried to defuse the tension in the room. “Will and I were coming to deliver an invitation to the resort guests, and your family Charlotte, for a party my sister is having on the 30th in our villa. Caroline loves to have a good party and a number of our friends from London and Paris are coming to stay at the Four Seasons next week through the end of the month. Caro has hired a really great catering company from Nice and found a couple of bartenders from one of the clubs nearby to mix drinks. Anybody interested?”

 

**_July 30, 2018_ **

As it turns out, everyone was interested, especially Liz’s mother and sisters. Even Mary got into the mood once she found out that a number of important people from Sophia Antipolis University had also accepted invitations. Most of the resort guests over 18 and under 50 showed up to the Bingley’s villa at 8pm on July 30th for what promised to be a great party.

Liz decided to be sociable and let loose since she had no official duties for the Foundation until the new guests showed up on August 1st. The board meeting had been a success. While she waited for Free Wakanda to get back about the IRS paperwork, there wasn’t anything to do but enjoy the last few days of her vacation.

Jane had been stressing about the invitation since the second it was hand delivered by Charles, wanting to make a good impression, but also wanting to show his sisters that she was able to keep up with the requirements of their social sphere. Caroline and Louisa had been talking incessantly about the “social scene” in London and Paris and how much they loved being part of the parties thrown by their friends. Caroline basically flat out said that it was necessary for the woman who Charles takes as a partner to be particularly adept at reading a social situation and adjusting to the people in the room. “It would be a disaster for Charles both socially and _professionally_ if his _plus-one_ wasn’t an asset at a society event.”

While Liz tried to tell Jane that Caroline was just being scary to make her upset and Charles couldn’t possibly believe any of that drivel, Jane was too tenderhearted to believe Caroline was intentionally misleading her. Jane was convinced that Caroline really believed what she was saying and that there must be a grain of truth there. So, the day of the party, every single detail of Jane’s outfit had been painstakingly obsessed over. Lydia offered her a killer set of heals and Kitty provided a dress that was sexy, but not too slutty. Liz styled Jane’s hair in soft curls and Mary read to Jane from an ancient text as a way to calming her nerves (which almost put her to sleep, so all in all not a bad way to keep her calm). Their mother had tried to talk strategy and ways to get Charles alone for a “private assignation”, but Jane was too mortified to do more than nod and blush while avoiding eye contact.

Finally, the clock chimed 8pm and the party officially began. The Bennet sisters could hear the music as soon as they opened their door to walk across the yard to the Bingley’s villa. What looked to be 50 cars, all with expensive hood ornaments and pristine wax jobs, were parked along the street. About 60 people were milling about the pool and Liz could see throngs of people walking past the open windows in the large dining room.

Once they entered the villa, it was an absolute crush. Caroline and Louisa were standing near the door to greet the guests and direct them to the food, drinks and dancing. Lydia and Kitty immediately disappeared out to the pool where Caroline said the main bar had been setup. Jane, Mary and Liz walked into the dining room where the majority of the guests seemed to be congregating. All of the dining room furniture had been moved out to make room for a DJ and dance floor. About 40 couples and several groups of young women were already dancing to the club style music being blared at a very high volume.

“At least most of the resort guests are here so there isn’t anyone to complain about the noise.” Jane yelled into Liz’s ear to be heard over the din. Liz just nodded blankly as she gaped at the number of people who had come all the way to the French Riviera coast just because Caroline Bingley wanted to throw a binger.

Charles came to claim Jane and drag her onto the dance floor about the time Mary decided she was not interested in the debauchery of the dance floor, which left Liz standing alone near the entry to the dining room / dance club den.

In a surprise turn of events, Will Darcy showed up with a glass of red wine and asked if she was interested in dancing.

“Maybe after a few more glasses of liquid courage. I haven’t been to a rave in more than 10 years, and that was only the one time when my college girlfriends took me out after I was accepted into law school.”

Darcy frowned at the room. “I’ve certainly never been to a rave, but I believe you when you say that this closely resembles the event. Caroline is not one for doing anything by half.”

Liz continued to sip the excellent wine. “How much did Caroline spend on the food and drink? This wine is very good and I must be much more expensive than the $10 per bottle stuff I usually stock up on for a large party.”

Darcy’s frown deepened. “I’m not sure exactly how much she spent, but I’m sure she didn’t get any of that particular wine for the general guests. That’s from my personal stash and costs more than $300 per bottle. I have noticed you enjoy a nice smooth red with chocolate notes and though you would appreciate this one. I’m usually not impressed by the offerings at parties and often will bring a bottle or two to enjoy myself, or stick to Macallan and coke.”

It took all of Liz’s will power not to spit the ridiculously expensive wine in Will Darcy’s face. Instead she opted for civil disinterest. “Thank you for sharing.” Raising her glass, Liz turned to see what was happening elsewhere in the house but Darcy wasn’t done just yet.

“I was hoping we might be able to spend some time together this evening. I know you aren’t familiar with the people here so perhaps we could find a quieter place to enjoy the rest of this wine?”

Liz wanted to rudely shove him off but admitted to herself that the overstuffed dining room was not particularly to her liking. So instead of blow off the officious rich jerk, Liz motioned for him to lead the way.

Darcy silently led Liz through the throngs of people in the dining room, large parlor and orangerie out to the back patio on the opposite side of the pool from the temporary bar. Darcy had watched in silent scorn as the guest list continued to balloon. His disbelief had grown even greater when Caroline had hired a local moving company to come store a significant quantity of the 19th century furniture in a small and cramped storage pod so that there would be more room for people. He was sure that the Rococo dining room table and sideboard which belonged to the resort were probably worth $100,000 at auction. Before he could say anything to the moving crew, they had placed it upside down on its top surface without even a sheet between the bottom of the pod and the table’s polished marble surface. He was also very worried for the built-in shelving in the media room. A ping-pong table, dart board, and billiards table had been set up for games and with how quickly the party was dissolving into total drunken debauchery, Darcy predicted that some kind of projectile might go through the plaster cornice pieces.

The wine bottle that Darcy had opened for himself and Liz was hiding behind a set of lounge chairs by the wall separating the pool from the nature trail. Darcy indicated that Liz should sit, then refilled both of their glasses. Forever a man who was satisfied with silence, Darcy took a seat and quietly watched the crowd while sipping his superior wine.

Liz was much less comfortable with silence and shortly tried to initiate some conversation. “Well, _Mr. Darcy_ , I believe we must find something to speak about.”

“I’m quite fond of discussing the latest books available. Have you any good books you have read recently?”

Liz snorted into her glass. “Come on! We can’t talk about books at a party like this. We’re supposed to be having fun and relaxing. Although there’s not much relaxing to be had with well over 100 people running about and all the noise they are making.”

“It is a large party, but the house is well apportioned and hopefully the guests won’t get too out of control.”

At that moment, Lydia tumbled into the pool fully clothed clinging to the neck of some unknown man wearing a strangely military looking red jacket and white jeans.

Liz quickly pounded the last dregs of her second glass of wine. “Sure Darcy, let’s go with the hope the guests won’t make a complete disaster of this 1850s Rococo masterpiece house.” Sighing and determined not to worry about the property until it was time to clean it for the coming August visitors, Liz decided to go down another path of conversation which she was sure would annoy Darcy. “Moving on to something completely different, I was interested in your reaction to the young man I had just met the other day. Was George Wickham the person you were worried about or was it a mistaken identity?”

Darcy bristled at this new line of conversation. “Somehow, from your tone, I gather you know it was not mistaken identity. I would not take anything George Wickham offers you or believe one word out of his mouth. He has wasted his life and will waste yours if you let him.”

Blanching at his own words, Darcy finished his wine, stood up, and left Liz alone on the lounge chairs without so much as a goodbye.

 

**_July 31, 2018 – 8:00AM_ **

Charlotte sighed heavily as she poured her second cup of coffee of the morning. There was a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. The Bingley party had raged on until nearly 4am, just 4 hours earlier. Liz had found Charlotte shortly after being left alone by Darcy with the strangest and most irritatingly ominous and dramatic statement she had ever heard from another adult. Determined to forget all about Darcy and Wickham for one night, Liz had joined her friend at the bar and drank much more than her usual 2 drink max. Charlotte had pushed Liz across the lawn, back to her own bed, at the early hour of midnight already three sheets to the wind. It was good that Liz wasn't awake yet and probably wouldn't show her face at all that day nursing a hangover because the villa the Bingleys had stayed in was a complete disaster.

After dumping Liz in a heap in her own bed, Charlotte had walked back to the Bingley's to try and keep an eye on what was happening.

The dining room was a complete mess. Several tiles of the original 1850's hardwood parquet flooring had cracked and come loose. The antique Persian Rug in the parlor had a red wine stain the size nearly 15 inches in diameter from a whole bottle spill. There were two broken shelves in the media room and countless scratches, gouges, cracks, and other damage to the plaster walls and woodwork throughout the house. When the last of the guests had left or passed at 4am, Charlotte proceeded to catalog the damage with time stamped pictures so that they could charge the Bingley's for the repairs.

Thankfully Will Darcy was also still awake at 4am and helped Charlotte with her inventory of the damage. He estimated that with materials and labor, more than €50,000 worth of damage had been done to the structure alone. Once the final picture had been taken for the damage records, Darcy offered to fly in one of his specialty construction crews and a master wood worker to fix the immediate damage so that the villa would be ready for guests to arrive on August 1. Charlotte gladly accepted since she wasn't sure how she was going to salvage the situation with only one calendar day to clean up the place and make it presentable.

After a few phone calls and a chartered flight for the crew, workers started arriving before the overnight guests even woke up. Darcy even handled finding a cleaning crew to haul away the remains of the party trash. The soiled rug was sent to a specialists cleaning shop in Paris while a new rug was bought as a temporary replacement. Finally, Darcy dragged the Bingley's out of their bedrooms at 3pm for on time check-out and practically tossed them onto his private plane at the Nice airport to go back to London. No goodbyes, no explanation, no discussion. Caroline was very put out that Darcy wasn't joining them on the flight back, but she didn't have time to challenge the return plans since Darcy didn't reveal that he was staying another night until after all the Bingleys and Hursts were buckled into their seats and he had spoken to his pilot about returning the next day to the Paris airport to pick him up. There was still a rental car to return and the repairs to oversee.

The crew worked through the night to sand, patch, paint, and repair all of the damage done to the house. At 9:30am on the morning of the 1st, Charlotte and Darcy went through the house one final time. To Charlotte's utter amazement, they declared that it was ready for guests. The Stanley's arrived at 11:00am sharp for check-in and Darcy put all of his men back on the chartered planes to London. After a 6 hour drive to Paris to return the Vanquish, Darcy boarded his private plane headed for his private airfield hear his Derbyshire estate, blissfully devoid of anyone except the two pilots, and slept for the first time in nearly 2 days.


End file.
